Inside the Braves with MLB.com's Mark Bowman

Schafer demoted to Double-A Mississippi

The Braves sent Jordan Schafer a message Friday when they informed the former top prospect that he is being sent back to Double-A Mississippi.

Schafer, who missed the first part of this season while his surgically right hand got stronger, was hit .201 in 52 games with two homers and a .255 on-base percentage with Triple-A Gwinnett this year.

The Braves entered this season determined to allow Schafer to stay in the Minors for most of the year to make up for the time he missed in 2008 (50-game suspension) and 2009 (injured hand in fourth game of Atlanta’s season and then played through the end of May with the injury).

By sending Schafer to Mississippi, the Braves are hoping he finds some of the focus he might have lacked the past couple of months, while having the comforts of living in the condo he purchased last year in Atlanta.

Schafer is a very likable kid, but his confidence can often be mistaken for cockiness. Hopefully this will be the kick in the rear that will allow him to realize he’s going to have to show some more determination before he gets a chance to truly live the big league lifestyle again.

Fregosi in Miami: While Braves top scout Jim Fregosi is in Miami this weekend for the Marlins series, I’m back in Atlanta. Yes Fregosi has had a chance to watch Cody Ross over the course of the past few days.

But it appears the primary reason he remained near his residence in south Florida this week was to have the opportunity to talk with Bobby Cox and get a better understanding of what the Braves might need down the stretch.

There’s a chance the Braves could land Ross if the Marlins reach a point where they aren’t asking for much in return. But right now, it doesn’t appear that they are showing definite interest in the 29-year-old center fielder, who has hit .167 with a .464 OPS this month.

109 Comments

I don’t get it either bill. Diaz IS the catalyst. HE basically single handedly lit a fire under our *** last season. He needs ABs.
And I’m terrified of Bautista, Ross, or Hart. In that order. And nc, do I have to explain it to you again? Small market clubs trade away their better more expensive players when losing for salary relief and good prospects. Read what you said and then what I wrote very carefully, and tell me if you get it. If not, I’d be glad to show you McLouth’s contract details.

If we do make a trade can the Braves put both him and Mclouth in the deal. I mean both him Mclouth and Yuni were kinda biust i mean Yuni was a cancer and both Mclouth anc Schafer have been nothing but below average players over the past cple of months. I mean i rather see the Braves go after Hart or Upton and give the Brewers or Rays both shcafer and Mclouth. I mean the Rays and Braves are dumping Cf for each other.

I am terrified that the Braves are trying to trade for Cody Ross. What are they thinking? He is the strangest of creatures, Bats RH, throws LH. He is having a miserable season and the word on him is he is poison in the clubhouse.

Nate McLouth is as stubborn as Frenchy was and his swing is very similar, unfortunately TP doesn’t understand how to correct this kind of swing problem. Because Terry had a very open stance(almost facing the pitcher) he believes that that is the solution to ALL swing problems. Unfortunately that only exacerbates the problems that guys who have the long swing arcs encounter. You need to actually correct by rotating your feet in the other direction. When you do that, you get better plate coverage and your swing shortens naturally and you tend to start using more of the field and don’t have to pull everything. I am happy to see Gonzo get another hit. I really hope he works out well. There are a lot of things to like about him, even though I have concerns about his long term success.

And Nate leaves another 2 on base, that’s 5 tonite and his avg. drops to .173. Do you know how hard it is to drop in avg. this late in the season when you avg. is that low already? I would rather have Hudson or Medlen at the plate in a key and late.

I wonder if Fredi can talk Dan Uggla into becoming a Brave and taking Chippers spot. I really like him. He is a gamer. He would settle in nicely at third, or Prado would move and leave 2nd for him. All this would likely be moot if he moves before the deadline. Until we sort out Chipper at the end of the year, we couldn’t sign another big infield deal and I expect he is gonna get big money in FA. We don’t seem to be able to add any additional salary despite the fact that we are down 20 MM a year while everyone else in the East is increasing salary.

Heres an idea, pay McLouth to sit the bench and put Diaz in. Diaz Hits right handers better than Mclouth hits totally. Braves should eat their losses with McLouth and play someone who can hit above the mendoza average.

He is very consistent though. He has hit 30 HRs and had an OPS over .800 every year he has played. He is a solid defender and a great guy in the clubhouse. Remember that Fredi wasn’t the only one to chew Hanley’s ***. I know that Danny is really tight with Fredi. Don’t be surprised to see him here soon.

Chipper in lf that the reason his knees are so screwed up was making the move from 3rd to left. U know if it was up to me and never his chipper would have stayed at 3rd and Castillo would have been our firstbaseman. I hate when a teams gets a player that changes positions while a even worse players plays that same position ie A-rod moving to third when it should have been Jeter.

Papi, I agree. He didn’t even look like himself out there tonite. He wasn’t throwing his fastball effectively at all. He was throwing them slide pieces that were hanging and not hitting the zone. I’m wondering if he’s just tired, or hurt or what.

For everybody dumping on McLouth, allow me to play Devil’s Advocate here.

A former all-star, HR power potential, speed on the basepaths (heck, didn’t he have a steal streak/record going when he came to the Braves before he got hurt last season?).

I used to be in the camp that thought McLouth would turn it around and actually start producing like everyone thought he would. I like having him on the basepaths when we are hitting. However, his defense is still something I don’t understand. There are so many times an outfielder needs to come up throwing hard to keep a runner from advancing and I could count on everybody who posts here fingers and toes the times that McLouth has caught a ball, hopped once, twice, sometimes three times with a pump fake and then lollipopped it back to the infield while the runner tags up and runs like hell on us. I used to want to keep him. He’s just about exactly the same as Kelly Johnson used to be. Good glove (sometimes) power potential, LH, speed, but ….wait a min..maybe thats it. Is Nate using Kelly Johnson’s old locker? maybe we need to board that one up. Anyway, I like McLouth. He should be a good fit here. But why he’s trying to be Kelly Johnson ’09 for us at the plate, I don’t get, but unless he shores up his defense, you guys are right, put his *** on the first plane outta town.

I may be in the minority but I don’t want to see them make a trade. I wouldn’t mind seeing Bobby shake up the line-up a little bit but I can see why he wouldn’t want to as this team is in first in the east, a fact many of my fellow posters choose to ignore. It seems all I hear about it how terrible certain players are, what a horrible job Frank & Bobby have done/are doing yet somehow with all these bad players and all this poor leadership, the Braves are in first place fellas. I think we should be focusing more on the things this team is doing instead of nitpicking them to death

Hey Brandon if u check out the Brewers roster on Espn u can see how much each player makes. Mclouth makes 5 million a year thats a a contract that the Brewers can take on and maybe trade again in another deal. the Brewers got Hoffman making 7.5 million u got Weeks making 4.75 million so I think they can take on His contract so ur wrong there ****** bag.

I don’t care what you think, I care what other teams know. McLouth is not good right now. He is hitting below .200. Thats the only stat I need to tell you. Of course they could take it on, but why would they take on a guy making just as much Corey Hart is when he’s not as good?

McLouth’s contract details:

:10:$4.5M, 11:$6.5M, 12:$10.65M club option ($1.25M buyout)

:2010 & 2011 salaries may increase by $0.5M ($0.2M each for Gold Glove or All Star selection in previous season, $0.1M for Silver Slugger)

:2012 salary may increase by $0.75M ($0.3M each for Gold Glove or All Star selection in previous season, $0.15M for Silver Slugger)

Who is going to take on a guaranteed roughly $9.5 million for him when he’s hitting like that? NO ONE

If we do trade for someone, I’d like it to be Hart, but he still scares me. I say send Melky and pay the rest of his contract for this year(he is arbitration eligible next year, but will only make roughly $4 million), Chris Resop, Brandon Hicks, and a B level pitching prospect for Corey Hart. I may be making it a little team friendly for us, but you can’t expect to get Mike Minor for a guy who costs that much this year and will next year through arbitration. Move Heyward to CF for the rest of this year, use McLouth as a 4th OF, start Diaz in left, Hart in right. If Hart finishes strong, trade him in the off season, even for nothing. He will come back down to earth eventually.

Yeah Prado is the Man. I heard the FL announcers as well. McClouth made the right through because he was moving to quickly when he fielded the ball and he needed to keep the DP in order. Not that it matters because McClouth never throws the ball anyways. I don’t know if he has a weak arm or if he is just affraid or lazy.

I hate the FL announcers. They are just homers and repeat the same stories over and over again.

I hate when the Braves play in south Florida. They never seem to play well there and always seem to lose heartbreakers.
I can’t wait for us to get out of there. Maybe we can leave Nate McLouth there. Just buckle a stalk of corn in his sear on the plane.

He very well could be the MVP this year bill. Remember Rollins did it in ’07, and he didn’t deserve it. If the Braves make it to the playoffs, I say he’s a top 5 vote getter, if we make it to the Series, hell, even the NLCS, I say he’s got a real shot.

Now, it’s a VERY rare occasion that I defend any of the Phillies, but why don’t you go back and check out Rollins’ stats in 07?they’re ridiculously good. Silver slugger AND gold glove. So “he didn’t deserve it” is a bit of an erroneous statement.

I agree with Viva. Also, the votes for things like MVP, Cy Young, etc., have to be turned in before the postseason starts in order to keep the awards from being swayed by postseason performance. At least that’s my understanding.

Brandon are you inferring that like Prado won’t deserve it like Rollins, that’s just wrong.

Boy I really disagree with how they managed Medlen around the break and after. It’s really showing up in his game tonite. He was so dominant before the break and now he’s hitting people, walking people and looks really hittable. Everyone was so worried about innings pitched but I went and looked at Maddog’s workload early in his career. He pitched 155 Inn. at age 21 and 250 at age 22. Medlen pitched 104 at age 23 and has only pitched 92 before tonite. Let the kid pitch. they’ve got him so messed up he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

I wouldn’t say Schafer is “done”. He’s still a brilliantly talented defensive center fielder who has lost his swing. He seems like kind of a d*ck, and his ego seems to have been seriously bruised last year. He might be able to make it back but it’s gonna take some time.

A lot of people rag on Bobby about his bullpen management, but how about the new Marlins’ manager’s relief decisions so far. Pretty bad, huh?

Speaking of bruised egos… Poor Nate.. he just can’t do anything anymore.

Ziffer- I don’t know what McLouth you’ve been watching but, He looks like Cr*p to me. 1-11 since he got back. 1 Single that translates to .099. He just stood and watched a called 3rd strike with the pitcher on deck. No throw as I referenced earlier. Looks like the same old Nate to me.

I’d say Gregor has earned playing time with the big club, especially if the Braves aren’t planning on making a move. McLouth is done. I don’t know what happened to the McLouth that played in Pittsburgh, except that maybe he’d left him there.
I don’t think there is anyone out there worth trading for as a new CF. Schafer is done. He only had one good minor league season, and he was apparently juicing that year. Plus, he’s a headcase.

Bill, your math is wrong about McLouth’s average being .099 with 1 hit in 11 at-bats. It should actually be .091. :-P That aside, McLouth better pick it up and play better so that someone will want him on their team, Atlanta or otherwise…
Is that the first time David Ross has pinch-run for anybody in his career? Can someone look that up?

Great win aside, does it bother anyone else that Bobby had Alex Gonzalez bunting with a runner in scoring position –in a tie ball game– in the 8th inning– with Nate Mclouth on deck?
We were incredibly lucky. If Cantu finds the bag, it’s a whole different ball game. We’re also lucky that Nate’s ground ball wasn’t a 1-2-3 double play.
Just made no since to me at all. Having a player with 17 home runs and batting close to .400 in two weeks, bunting for a player on deck hitting .174.

Damn Hokies, half my family have season football tickets, they have rooms in their houses in maroon and orange. Turkeys everywhere. I am a South Florida Bull, just waiting for Skip Holtz to schedule a game against Beamer so we can take em down like he did at East Carolina. I knew there was a reason I didn’t like you. And you know Bowman is a Mountaineer. Damn this Blog is cursed. :)

Brooks Conrad is now tied for the Major League record for most pinch hit Grand slams in a season. It has been done 4 times before. If he hits another pinch hit Grand Slam during the rest of his career he will tie the career record for pinch hit Grand Slams. There are also 4 others who have accomplished that feat.

Aw, Bill, don’t be like that. I pull for South Florida in the Big East, especially against the likes of WVU and Pitt. I’d love to see a VT-USF game someday too, but the first time that would be able to happen, barring bowl games, is 2017. At least unless someone backs out of a commitment to us before that time.
Collegiate alliances aside, the Braves seem to unite us all. :)

I know he works in the Marlin’s front office, but The Marlins broadcast this week has been a non-stop Andre Dawson tribute. They even had a phone interview from someone in Cooperstown calling to report on his day of golf last night. He was a Marlin for 2 seasons and hit a total of 10 home runs. Their treating him like he was a lifelong Marlin. It’s nauseating. He is a Cub in every way. If anything else, an Expo… but he’s NOT a Marlin.

I can’t take it anymore. I am tired of making excuses for McCloth. Yes, he hit he ball hard, but he is killing this team. This loss is on him. I think his average is actually down ten points since he came back. Melky and Blanco the rest of the way.

McLouth did it again bases loaded hit into double play. Maybe it time for Bobby to retire, cant see McLouth is washed up. Hes now 0 for 18 with runners in scoring position. Some one please fill me in I just dont understand why McLouth is in the line up.

I’m not even upset about the loss. The bad umpire, both with the strike zone and making JJ pitch through a hurricane in the 4th, the godawful hitting with RISP, the Chavez, and the McLouth… that shows me that whatever deity we individually believe in was not going to allow this one to go our way.

I’m choosing to take a look at Mclouth’s awfulness as a blessing in disguise. If anything, it will encourage Frank to make a move this week to strengthen our lineup. Thank you, Nate for not confusing anything. It’s clear now what needs to happen.

Yeah, Nate McLouth doesn’t really s*ck that bad……..Right. It’s time to end the Nate McLouth experiment. We will never be able to trade him, and we can’t win the ultimate prize if we keep putting him out there. No Pinch runner, no defensive replacement, No nothing. Send him home.

This team doesn’t need a lot of fixing, but c’mon McClouth, I think you’ve had a fair tryout. Can we please unpack this guy? Anyone else immediately consider the double-play when they saw him come to bat?

Chavez too. He doesn’t pitch much and he’d been a bit better lately, but what does he bring to the club? I know they want Kimbrel to get more seasoning, but surely somebody fits the bill as our twelfth pitcher better than Chavez. He was the worst guy to put in after we relinquished momentum.

While I think we have all finally reached consensus that McClouth should go, Bravo, still can’t bring myself to seeing us make a move. The two people (DeJesus and Hart) that I would have found acceptable to actually add something to our team are now hurt. I say stick it out in LF with Hinske and Infante. Melky and Gregor in CF – chips fall where they may.

We have seen what McLouth has in the tank for ’10, no need to see anything else. Get on the phone Frank, you’ve got some work to do. If nothing else, unload him for some minor league depth, but he is just taking up a roster spot at the time being. What is the book on Willie Tavares? I know the guy can get us a lot of SB, but what is his defense like?? I know the guy isn’t going to marvel with the bat, but if he can hit in the 8 hole with a .240-.250 average and play good defense he would be an easy upgrade since he’s in Gwinnett. Plus guys, don’t assume anyone can play the OF, remember, Garrett Anderson played OF most of his career (when he didn’t DH)….

Someone explain to me what our Front Office is doing. Jesse Chavez throws the biggest meat ball I’ve ever seen. You can see hitters light up when they see him pitch, he has no business on this team. KK has pitched once in the last month and gave up 3 runs in 1 inning. Why is he on the roster? McLouth, what else can you say. The guy couldn’t hit a pinata with his eyes open. No business on a major league team, much less one that is trying to make the playoffs. Glaus is obviously hurt. Get him out until he can play again. Jonny Venters and Moylan pitch EVERY night. We are gonna screw this up if we aren’t careful. The Fillies have won 4 in a row. They are gonna have some good games down the stretch. Do we have the guts to make hard decisions? Are we willing to eat large chunks of salary that we screwed up and took on? Can Frankie swallow his ego enough to improve the ballclub? We’ll see.

That’s the thing… Willy Taveras won’t hit .240, and wont even sniff a .300 OBP. Gregor has always always had a good OBP and has really seemed to turn the corner as far as knowing his role on the team. Has a strong arm in the OF, too. Plus, he’s not Nate McLouth.

Firstly, it was a very frustrating series. They could have swept the Fish and could have really used OFlaherty today. It looks like Dunn has fallen from grace after hs last outing.
They are still in 1st place and have a nice lead. I just don’t know how much longer they can struggle with McClouth. The AB today wasn’t awful, but he did not get the job done. Overall, he has not looked good at the plate. I try to be optimistic and defend him, but if things don’t turn around in the next week, let Blanco and Melky handle the position. CODY ROSS IS NOT AN UPGRADE OVER MELKY OR BLANCO. Sorry guys, but it is true. Another option is moving Heward to CF and giving Infante,Diaz and Hinske a chance to handle the corner OF spots.

Bill, agreed, those three guys are slowly killing our team…What really kills me is that McLouth does nothing to improve his status. I can understand being in a slump, but why is he not trying to help the team in other ways. He goes up there with the same hack every at bat. He makes no attempt to bunt, sacrifice, or move guys over. I can’t see him being long for this team.
Acziffer, not sure how you can say that Ross is not an upgrade over Blanco or Melky, I’ll glady see your point if you give me some evidence, until then, I’m not so sure that is true. While Ross is not great, he had 20 HR power and hits pretty well along with having decent defense.
Also, I’m not so sure Heyward can play CF. He is an amazing athlete and can probably adapt to just about any position but I think he does not read the ball off the bat well enough to get a jump on the ball in CF. But I could be completely wrong on that one. Heck, he’s got better wheels than Melky for sure.
If we don’t make a move, I would much rather have Melky/Blanco than McLouth. Maybe we can get something for McLouth, because he’s holding us down.
Lastly, why do we even have Dunn up? If we are looking for someone to put out there, we might as well have Kimbrel. I’m not sure why we insist on a LHP because we already have Wagner and Venters. With the good pitching we have down in AAA/AA I can’t believe we can’t plug Dunn/Chavez’s spots with someone more productive.

Ziffer, stop trying to defend McLouth. He had 2 AB tonite and both were abysmal. He swung at Ball 4 in the ninth when we needed a base runner, then hit a weak grounder. Then he grounds into the double play to kill the rally in the 11th. if he does anything else, we score, Wags comes in and no Jesse Chavez nervous breakdown. HOW MUCH WORSE CAN IT GET????? He could have struck out and it would have been an improvement. I recommend he doesn’t ever swing the bat again in professional baseball. The outcome will be much better. I mean at this point we would be better off letting Hudson or Medlen play CF on off days, rather than to keep putting McLouth out there. He can’t hit RH or LH. He isn’t hitting the ball hard and he isn’t teachable. Another Terry Pendleton success story.

I don’t even need to read the prior posts to know what the general sentiment is.. We saw the two weakest links on the team on display tonight. One out and the bases loaded and the worst result is produced. Reliever comes in and gives up two straight hits.. the result is inevitable (unless the Marlins had our CF on their team). I’ve always thought Nate seemed like a good guy and wanted to defend him, but right now he is just awful. You would NEVER expect an ex all star to perform this badly, but his confidence just seems to be absolutely destroyed. And Chavez.. why not put Kawakami in instead of him? He’s not exactly Wags or Venters, but what is Bobby gonna do, have him rot in the pen and do nothing?? Why isn’t Marek in the bullpen?? His numbers in Gwinnett are insane. 31 appearances and THREE earned runs. I also wanted to defend Chavez cause I’m for solidarity with the entire team, but come on.. he comes in and we all know what the result is gonna be. Trade Nate or keep him on the bench as a very expensive pinch runner. The LAST guy to make the team (Conrad), has produced a thousand times better than our starting CF. I just can’t deal with these guys anymore.

I dont like the direction the Braves are going right now. I know playing in south Florida really brings out the worst in this team, but it really shined on our glaring weaknesses:
1. Bobby is running Moylan and Venters into the ground (and an early retirement) per his particular idiom, while Jesse Chavez, Mike “Strikes Are for Pansies” Dunn, and Kenshin Kantwinagami sit and rot in the bullpen.2. Glaus looks like he can barely walk with his knees the way they are. It might be time to DL him so we might have a semi-healthy 1B for the stretch run.3. Nate McLouth… Ok, there is literally not anything I can say that you guys dont already know. He needs to be gone. Anywhere. Now.4. Chipper only plays when he thinks he has a fighting chance at hitting a particular pitcher, and still is only managing to hit .250.5. Lowe is the 3rd worst $10+ mil/yr pitcher ever, right after Darren Dreifort and Oliver Perez.6. Matt Diaz isnt playing. WTF Bobby?!

And if they dont want Gregor in there… why not try Matt Young? Sure, he’d quite possibly be the shortest Braves player since Rafael Belliard, but…
.389 career OBP in Minors (more BBs than Ks).43 SB last year, 22 SB already this year..295 AVG with Gwinnett this year.He is not Nate McLouth.
Sorry, Ive been bored.

Bill – you have yet again frustrated me. You share random thoughts and comments and don’t even read other’s opinions carefully. How is the following phrase defending McClouth???

“They are still in 1st place and have a nice lead. I just don’t know how much longer they can struggle with McClouth. The AB today wasn’t awful, but he did not get the job done. Overall, he has not looked good at the plate. I try to be optimistic and defend him, but if things don’t turn around in the next week, let Blanco and Melky handle the position. ”

I have not idea what your are talking about. I want him on the bench or released!!! It seems pretty clear to me. I guess you are referring to the part where I state a fact that he hit the ball hard once. HE DID!!!!!!! But, he has still been awful.

What ever happen to getting Josh Willingham from the Nats or maybe getting Werth from the Phillies. I mean i dont see the Phillies give him up to the Braves uless we give them Medlen and maybe another Ofielder like melky or Diaz and give up a pitching Propsect like Dunn or Minor. But as for the Nats why not send Schafer Minor and brandon Hicks for Willingham and Mike Morse. For Werth I would give them Hicks Mclouth and Minor for Werth, Jc romero and cody ransom

Or in a three team deal I would have the Nats trade Willingham to the Phillies for Werth then the Braves send Mclouth Hicks to the Phillies and the Nat give the Braves Werth Morse and Harris and the Braves send Schafer Matt Young and Minor to the Nats.

Or in a three team deal I would have the Nats trade Willingham to the Phillies for Werth then the Braves send Mclouth Hicks to the Phillies and the Nat give the Braves Werth Morse and Harris and the Braves send Schafer Matt Young and Minor to the Nats. And Melky go to the Phillies.

Hopefully he will go to the AL. Do not want Oswalt on the Phils or the Cards.
I like how all the idiots over at DOB’s blog are saying things like “looks like the April Braves again”.. come on.. losing 2 games we should have won does not say that this team is falling apart. We were one hit and one out away from sweeping the series. Though it would be nice to have someone in CF who could hit and/or would attempt to throw someone out, and 2 back of the bullpen guys that are actually used on occasion so that when they do come in they’re not completely cold and ineffective. I don’t think as badly about Chavez as most of you guys, but I do acknowledge the fact that we have a righty (Marek) in AAA who has an ERA under 1.00 in over 30 appearances. Doesn’t make much sense, or is KK just gonna rot for the rest of the year while Venters pitches 2 innings a night? I can understand why Kimbrel is in AAA, but not Marek.
Oh and Tommy Hanson just signed with Scott Boras. Great news.

Being the eternal optimist, I figured a way to put a positive spin on this weekends outcome. It probably will keep the Marlins thinking they are in contention, so that they won’t dump Cody Ross on us. See how positive I am guys?

Here are my comments, and then I’ll shut up: 1.Trade McLouth or sit him down on the bench or send him down to Gwinnett and bring Blanco back up. 2. Sit Glaus’s butt down NOW or trade him as well. 3. PLAY Conrad, Diaz, Blanco, Omar, Hinske, Melky MORE…quit wasting time with McLouth, he’s not going to help us this year. Light a fire under Glaus or sit him down. Let’s put some power back into the 5-8 spots, OK? This is ridiculous.

One more thing, Cox: Take the damn pitchers out when they get into trouble and give the team a chance to win. I’m sick of loosing games that are poorly coached. Retire already…you should have won 4-5 World Series if you were worth a damn as a coach. And that’s just the honest truth. Nice guy or not.

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